Introduction
It's what you do when you think no one's looking that tells us what kind of person you really are.(1)
Most elementary students begin their school careers enjoying story time. Fairy tales, mysteries, folk tales, and fantasy fascinate them, especially stories with pictures! Writing for these kindergarten through third graders reflects these genres and they enjoy writing. The problem comes once they have "graduated" to the upper elementary grades. The new Common Core curriculum for these grades has greatly increased the percentage of time spent each quarter on non-fiction reading and writing. For some students, this exposure to non-fiction is celebrated, as a new world of information is now available to them. For other students, a palpable groan can be heard when they see another non-fiction assignment for the week introduced. Now imagine how loud these groans are when students are asked to write non-fiction!
This unit seeks to explore ways to engage fourth grade students in writing biography, memoir, narratives, and autobiography. Students usually enjoy writing about themselves so they will experience this form of writing as a segue into writing narrative and biography. They will be exposed to fugitive slave narratives that shock and amaze to elicit conversation and wonder. By engaging students in this way, I intend for them to develop an appreciation of non-fiction writing as a genre that is not intimidating and/or too difficult to comprehend and enjoy. In the writing process, they will also gain some insights into who they really are as an evolving learner.
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